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TurnOffLocation Apps Google Maps

App guide

How to turn off location on Google Maps

Google Maps has three separate location switches. Location sharing sends your live position to people you chose, Timeline keeps a record of where you have been, and the app's location permission in phone settings decides whether Maps can read your position at all. Turning one off leaves the other two on.

Do they get told?This is not documented. Google prints the steps for Stop and says nothing about whether the person you shared with is told, or what their screen shows afterwards. What Google does document is narrower: any arrival or departure notifications that person set up about you stop when location sharing stops.

Stop sharing with one person

inside the Google Maps app
Path
  1. Google Maps
  2. your profile picture or initial
  3. Location sharing
  4. the person
  5. Stop

From the vendor’s own page · Google Maps iOS app, read 2026-09-17 · checked 2026-09-17 · source: Google Maps Help — Share your real-time location with others in Google Maps (iPhone & iPad), Google Maps Help — Get Location Sharing notifications (iPhone & iPad)

Do they get told?This is not documented. Google's page for stopping a share prints the four steps and says nothing about what the other person is shown afterwards. What Google does document: any arrival or departure notifications that person set up about you stop when location sharing stops.
Who can still see you
Off
This person
Your live position stops updating for them in Google Maps, and any arrival or departure alerts they set about you stop too.
Still on
Your other shares and Timeline
Every other person on your Location sharing list still sees you, and Timeline keeps saving your location if it is on.
Still visible
Google and the network
Google can still place you roughly from your IP address, and your carrier and Wi-Fi network do not depend on any Maps setting.

Stop every share, one person at a time

inside the Google Maps app
Path
  1. Google Maps
  2. your profile picture or initial
  3. Location sharing
  4. the person
  5. Stop

From the vendor’s own page · Google Maps iOS app, read 2026-09-17 · checked 2026-09-17 · source: Google Maps Help — Share your real-time location with others in Google Maps (iPhone & iPad)

Do they get told?This is not documented. Google prints the same Stop step for each person and says nothing about what any of them are shown once a share ends. What Google does document: any arrival or departure notifications they set up about you stop when location sharing stops.
Who can still see you
Off
Everyone you were sharing with
Once the Location sharing list is empty, no one receives your live position from Google Maps any more.
Still on
Timeline and other Google apps
Timeline keeps saving where you go if it is on, and Maps still has this phone's location permission.
Still visible
Google and the network
Google can still place you roughly from your IP address, and your carrier and Wi-Fi network do not depend on any Maps setting.

Google's iPhone page prints Stop for one profile at a time, so work down the Location sharing list until no one is left on it.

Turn off Timeline and delete it

inside the Google Maps app
Path
  1. Google Maps
  2. your profile picture or initial
  3. Your Timeline
  4. More
  5. Location & privacy settings
  6. Timeline is on
  7. Turn off and delete activity

From the vendor’s own page · Google Maps iOS app, read 2026-09-17 · checked 2026-09-17 · source: Google Maps Help — Manage your Google Maps Timeline (iPhone & iPad), Google Account Help — Manage your Timeline data

Who can still see you
Off
Your Timeline on this phone
Maps stops adding places to your Timeline, and the delete option clears the record it already holds.
Still on
Other Google location records
Google says Web & App Activity and Search Services History can still save location from your other Google use.
Still visible
Google and the network
Google can still place you roughly from your IP address, and any share you run in Maps is a separate switch that stays on.

To clear the record without switching Timeline off, the same screen carries Delete all Timeline data under Location settings.

Stop Google Maps using your location

in iPhone Settings
Path
  1. Settings
  2. Privacy & Security
  3. Location Services
  4. Google Maps
  5. Never

From the vendor’s own page · iOS (current release), read 2026-09-17 · checked 2026-09-17 · source: Apple Support — Turn Location Services and GPS on or off on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch

Do they get told?This is not documented. Google describes Location sharing as a switch inside Maps and does not say what a person you share with sees if the app loses its location permission in iPhone Settings. Apple's permission page does not address another company's sharing features either.
Who can still see you
Off
Google Maps on this iPhone
Maps can no longer read this phone's location, so it has nothing to send for a share or to save to Timeline.
Still on
Your shares, still switched on
The shares in your Location sharing list stay on in your Google Account, and Maps on your other signed-in devices still feeds them.
Still visible
Google and the network
Google can still place you roughly from your IP address, and every other app keeps its own location permission.

Precise Location sits on the same screen if you would rather Maps had an approximate position than none at all.

Stop sharing with one person

inside the Google Maps app
Path
  1. Google Maps
  2. your profile picture or initial
  3. Location sharing
  4. the person
  5. Stop

From the vendor’s own page · Google Maps Android app, read 2026-09-17 · checked 2026-09-17 · source: Google Maps Help — Share your real-time location with others in Google Maps (Android), Google Maps Help — Get Location Sharing notifications (Android)

Do they get told?This is not documented. Google's page for stopping a share prints the four steps and says nothing about what the other person is shown afterwards. What Google does document: any arrival or departure notifications that person set up about you stop when location sharing stops.
Who can still see you
Off
This person
Your live position stops updating for them in Google Maps, and any arrival or departure alerts they set about you stop too.
Still on
Your other shares and Timeline
Every other person on your Location sharing list still sees you, and Timeline keeps saving your location if it is on.
Still visible
Google and the network
Google can still place you roughly from your IP address, and your carrier and Wi-Fi network do not depend on any Maps setting.

Turn off Google Location Sharing

in Android Settings
Path
  1. Settings
  2. Location
  3. Location services
  4. Google Location Sharing
  5. Use Location Sharing
  6. Off

From the vendor’s own page · Android (current release), read 2026-09-17 · checked 2026-09-17 · source: Google Account Help — Manage your Location Sharing settings (Android)

Do they get told?This is not documented. Google's page for this switch prints the three steps and says nothing about what the people you were sharing with are shown. What Google does document: any arrival or departure notifications they set up about you stop when location sharing stops.
Who can still see you
Off
Everyone you were sharing with
Google calls this pausing Location Sharing: no one on the list receives your live position from this phone while it is off.
Still on
Timeline and other Google apps
Timeline keeps saving where you go if it is on, and Maps still holds this phone's location permission.
Still visible
Google and the network
Google can still place you roughly from your IP address, and your carrier and Wi-Fi network do not depend on any Maps setting.

This is the path Google prints, and some manufacturers arrange the Location menu differently.

Turn off Timeline and delete it

inside the Google Maps app
Path
  1. Google Maps
  2. your profile picture or initial
  3. Your Timeline
  4. More
  5. Location & privacy settings
  6. Timeline is on
  7. Turn off and delete activity

From the vendor’s own page · Google Maps Android app, read 2026-09-17 · checked 2026-09-17 · source: Google Maps Help — Manage your Google Maps Timeline (Android), Google Account Help — Manage your Timeline data

Who can still see you
Off
Your Timeline on this phone
Maps stops adding places to your Timeline, and the delete option clears the record it already holds.
Still on
Other Google location records
Google says Search Services History and Web & App Activity can still save location from your other Google use.
Still visible
Google and the network
Google can still place you roughly from your IP address, and any share you run in Maps is a separate switch that stays on.

To clear the record without switching Timeline off, the same screen carries Delete all Timeline data under Location settings.

Stop Google Maps using your location

in Android Settings
Path
  1. Settings
  2. Apps
  3. Google Maps
  4. Permissions
  5. Location
  6. Don't allow

From the vendor’s own page · Android (current release), read 2026-09-17 · checked 2026-09-17 · source: Android Help — Change app permissions on your Android phone, Android Help — Manage location permissions for apps

Do they get told?This is not documented. Google describes Location sharing as a switch inside Maps and does not say what a person you share with sees if the app loses its location permission in Android Settings. The permission pages do not address the app's sharing features either.
Who can still see you
Off
Google Maps on this phone
Maps can no longer read this phone's location, so it has nothing to send for a share or to save to Timeline.
Still on
Your shares, still switched on
The shares in your Location sharing list stay on in your Google Account, and Maps on your other signed-in devices still feeds them.
Still visible
Google and the network
Google can still place you roughly from your IP address, and every other app keeps its own location permission.

Google notes that on Pixel phones some of these steps need Android 11 and up, and that the menus differ by manufacturer.

Location spoofing, fake-GPS apps and mock-location settings are outside this site on purpose. This page describes the settings the app and your phone provide, and what the vendor documents about them.

If someone is tracking you against your will, turning a setting off may not be the safest first step. Read this first.

Related

Before you tap

Question Does airplane mode turn off location? No. Airplane mode is a switch for radios: Apple's page says it "turns off all radios except for Bluetooth", and Google's says Wi-Fi and Bluetooth go off with it. Neither company's airplane-mode page mentions Location Services, GPS or location of any kind. Question How to turn off location without notifying It depends on the app, and only Apple and Snapchat answer it in writing. Apple says the person you stop sharing with won't be notified, and its own safety guide adds that they may notice you have stopped; Snapchat says friends you pick for a location setting aren't notified when you choose them. Life360, Google Maps and Instagram document what the other person's screen shows instead, which is not the same promise. Question How to stop sharing location with one person Not everyone has to come off at once: Find My, Messages, Google Maps, Snapchat and Instagram all have a per-person control. In Find My it is People, the person, Stop Sharing My Location; in Google Maps it is Location sharing, the person, Stop. Apple is the only one of them that states whether that person is notified. App guide Find My Find My has one switch per person, a one-day pause per person, and one master switch for everyone; Messages, Maps and Contacts all reach the same share. Apple's sharing page says the person you stop sharing with is not notified. Apple's safety guide adds that they may notice you have stopped. App guide Photos & Camera A photo can carry the place it was taken in three copies at once: the one you send, the original in your library, and every new photo the camera takes. Apple and Google document a different switch for each. Turning one off leaves the other two as they were. Android 17 Android Android keeps three separate switches: Use location for the whole phone, one location permission for each app, and a precise-or-approximate choice under any app you have allowed. Google documents that with device location off, emergency location services or your mobile carrier can still send your device's location to emergency responders when you call or text an emergency number.